Expedition-Themed Price-Drafting Card Game

Everest and Lhotse, from Pang La

Dice Hate Me games will soon be launching a contest for 54-card games. The winner will be published in a collection of 54-card games later next year.

At the moment, I'm pursuing an expedition-themed price-drafting card game for my submission. Players are explorers in some hostile environment that gets exponentially harder and more rewarding the farther you go. Think the South Pole, Mt. Everest, the Mariana Trench, the Moon, that sort of thing.


So first, everyone begins with 10 points. (Consider these dollars, if you prefer.) To start your turn, reveal cards from the top of the deck until all three suits appear or five cards appear. Each suit represents different pieces of equipment needed on the journey.



Next, set your own price for that bundle of equipment, for example "This bundle costs 4 points." Then each subsequent player has an opportunity to buy that bundle for that price, paying you those points. If it comes back to you, then you must pay the points to the bank.


Set that bundle beside your ongoing tableau, but do not merge them together yet. This represents you still asking donors to help fund your excursion. (If this was a mountaineering theme, I'd set up the tableau vertically as shown below.)


Instead of buying/selling a bundle, you may instead LAUNCH your expedition with whatever gear you have ready. In doing so, you must add cards to the tableau in the following manner:
  1. Add one card to the first level.
  2. Add one card to the first level, then second level.
  3. Add one card to the first level, then second level, then third level.
  4. Add one card to the first level, then second level, then third level, then fourth level.
And so on, continuing to add cards in this manner until you have used all cards in your bundle. Then you score points!

Look for matching suits and/or ranks in a level and score 1 point per matching suit, multiplied by its level. So a pair at first level earns 2 points, a pair at second level earns 4 points, a pair at third level earns 6 points, and so on.

After launching an expedition, your bundle of equipment is empty and you must solicit funding from other donors once again.

Continue playing until the deck runs out. Whoever has the most points wins!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 Graphic Design and Typography Tips for your Card Game

Image
Chris Farrell of Illuminating Games just wrote a thorough critique of card games setting their body text to be so small that they cannot be read at arm's length, let alone across the table. Here's an excerpt, but the whole thing is worth a read for any would-be card game designers out there. (Myself included.) Break out your copy of the base set of Dominion, and look at the Chapel. This has a text box roughly 3.5cm by 4.5cm. It's got a single line of text. That line of text is 1 (one) millimeter high. 1mm! For me, it's only clearly readable at half an arm's length even in the bright light of day. (...) Compare this to a more sane game like Glory to Rome, where the font size is 2-3 times as large (text is 2mm high, keywords 3mm and usually highlighted). I can generally read Glory to Rome cards across the table, and can certainly see the important keywords. To heap insult upon injury, not only does Glory to Rome have far more legible text than Dominion it also has
Read more

Low-High Dice Game

Image
A dice game inspired by the stock market (and playing lots of Martian Dice). Roll a bunch of dice and choose which sets to keep. Choose your strategy wisely! Stuff You Need Two-to-Six PLAYERS A PENCIL and PAPER to keep score Thirteen standard six-sided DICE How to Play The shortest player takes the first turn. On your turn, first roll all thirteen dice. Several dice will have matching results. These are called SETS. (A single die result is a set, too.) You must choose a set to keep. For example, your first roll results are 111124445555 . The sets are four 1 s, one 2 , three 4 s, and four 5 s. After keeping a set of dice, lock them up in a row. This is called the GOOD TRACK. For example,  you could keep the set of four 1 s, one 2 , three 4 s, or four 5 s . You decide to keep the four 1 s and line them up in your good track. After keeping a set, you may end your turn or re-roll the remaining unlocked dice. When you re-roll, immediately set aside any results that ar
Read more

The Thousand-Year Game Design Challenge

Image
UPDATE: The submission period has closed and here are the entries. If you're an entrant, continue sending pics or vids of people playing your game. The first step to a game lasting a thousand years is for people to play it today. UPDATE 2: And here's the winner! To support games designed for longevity – that can be learned, played and shared for hundreds of years – we offer this challenge to any game designers, artists and imaginative people who also share this desire. Challenge Create a game. The game can be of any theme or genre you desire, but there is one restriction: You're creating a "new classic," like Chess, Tag or card games. So, create a game to be enjoyed by generations of players for a thousand years. Prize $1,000 to the winning entrant, to be announced and awarded January 1, 2012. Entry Deadline Entries must be submitted before midnight July August 31st, 2011. ( Update ) Entry Guidelines Enter by posting a comment below with a link
Read more